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99 Luftballons (album)
| recorded = 1983–84 | studio = Spliff Studio, West Berlin | genre = Neue Deutsche Welle | length = | language = English, German | label = Epic | producer = Reinhold Heil, Manfred Praeker | prev_title = ? (Fragezeichen) | prev_year = 1984 | next_title = Feuer und Flamme | next_year = 1985 | misc = }} }} 99 Luftballons (German for "99 Balloons") is a compilation album by German pop band Nena, released in 1984. It was their first album released worldwide following the success of "99 Luftballons" and also the first with English lyrics. The album had moderate success in America. Alternate versions The most widely known cover of this album is identical to the one used for most versions of the single "99 Luftballons" or "99 Red Balloons". The album was also released as Nena or International Album; this version used the same cover, but with "99 Luftballons" removed, and sometimes with additional sticker at upper left that says "International Album incl. Club-Mix ›99 Red Balloons‹". The Japanese version was released as 99 Luftballons: First America. The alternate cover features the band pictured on a white background, which photo in various releases is the same or similar to the one on the single "Rette mich". Songs The album is composed of tracks released on the band's two previous albums, Nena (1983) and ? (Fragezeichen) (1984), five of which are English-translated versions. "99 Red Balloons" ("99 Luftballons"), "Just a Dream" ("Nur geträumt"), "Kino", "Leuchtturm" and "99 Luftballons" were taken from Nena (1983), while "? (Question Mark)" ("? (Fragezeichen)"), "Hangin' on You" ("Ich häng' an dir"), "Let Me Be Your Pirate" ("Lass mich dein Pirat sein"), "Das Land der Elefanten", "Rette mich" and "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" were taken from ? (Fragezeichen) (1984). The lead single, "99 Luftballons", is the band's or even Nena's most successful song to date. It reached number one in several countries worldwide, but is considered a one-hit wonder as other singles and albums performed poorly outside of Europe. "Just a Dream" reached number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. "Kino" was initially released on the album in German, but was translated into English titled as "Kino (At the Movies)". Like its predecessor, "? (Question Mark)", the single failed to chart. The song was later included as a bonus track on a re-release of the band's second English album It's All in the Game (1985). Track listing Side A contains tracks 1 to 5 and side B contains tracks 6 to 11. Notes * Some releases erroneously printed "Das Land der Elefanten" as "Das Lan'g''' der Elefanten" and "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" as "Unerkannt durch's ''M'a'rchenland" * The spelling of "durch's" instead of "durchs" in title that should be "Unerkannt Märchenland" is an obvious error, too * The track list of the Spanish version is translated into Spanish * The track list of the Japanese version is partially written in katakana * CD versions of the album replace the single version of "99 Red Balloons" (Track 1) with a "Club Mix". This change has been noted on some international pressings, but not on others. The correct version is available on the iTunes Store. Personnel Credits adapted from Allmusic and Discogs. Nena *Nena Kerner – main vocals, arrangement *Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen – main vocals (on "Das Land der Elefanten"), backup vocals (on "? (Question Mark)" and "Kino"), keyboard *Carlo Karges – guitar, backup vocals (on "Kino") *Jürgen Dehmel – bass *Rolf Brendel – drums, percussion Technical personnel *David Sanborn – saxophone (on "? (Question Mark)") *Manfred "Manne" Praeker – production *Reinhold Heil – production *After Hours Studio – cover design *Jim Rakete – photography Charts Certifications Release history References External links * [http://www.nena.de/de/discografie/international-album-99-luftballons International Album / 99 Luftballons] at the official Nena website * * Lyrics from this album at LyricWiki Category:1984 albums Category:Nena albums Category:Albums produced by Reinhold Heil Category:Epic Records compilation albums Category:German-language albums Category:English-language albums